CHRISTIAN Moore is excited at the prospect of making his long-awaited return to Worcester City.

The 32-year-old striker could be a surprise inclusion in Saturday's squad to face champions-elect Droylsden at St George's Lane -- providing he gets the all-clear from surgeons on Friday.

Moore was expected to miss the entire season after rupturing anterior cruciate ligaments to his right knee, after an innocuous challenge during a reserve fixture last September.

He underwent an operation at Derby Nuffield Hospital in October and has slowly worked his way back into training.

Derbyshire-based Moore is still to make his full Worcester debut since signing a two-year deal last summer from the defunct Telford United, but he is now eager to make his mark.

"Hopefully, the surgeon will give me the all-clear to begin playing again," said Moore. "It would be a bonus to play some part in the next two games because I ruled myself out for the season, everybody did.

"I know I'm nowhere near to doing a full 90 minutes. But I'm up for taking some part in games. Whether the manager can put me on for 15 minutes, I don't know, but he's got other players to look at for next season.

"Only in the last three or four weeks have things been frustrating for me. That's because I've been in training and I can do virtually everything the lads can do, such as running, tackling and games."

Moore is set to give himself the best opportunity of staking a first-team place next season by training throughout the summer.

He added: "It's been a long season for all of the lads and they will want a rest. But I won't stop training in the summer.

"I don't know how much the injury will affect me. They say players lose half a yard of pace and a bit of spring when coming back from a cruciate ligament injury. Alan Shearer and Roy Keane both had the same kind of injury and it affected them a little."